Kamaru Usman retained his UFC welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal.
Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) outworked Masvidal (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC) for a unanimous decision after a pair of 50-45 scores and a 49-46 on the judges’ cards. Usman landed five takedowns and had more than 10 minutes of control time in the 25-minute fight.
“‘Gamebred’ is the biggest, baddest dude out there right now, and I had to switch gears and prepare for him on six days’ notice,” Usman said. “I had to make a mental shift. I trained for Gilbert. I had a completely different game plan. … ‘Gamebred’ is tough, and he showed it out there. He took a lot of big elbows, and he didn’t quit.”
He's a problem! 🇳🇬
🏆 @Usman84kg closes the show on top!#UFC251 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/pPjV2mN4bL
— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2020
Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo via TKO (strikes) – Round 5, 3:24
Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:21
Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:49
Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:15
Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Davey Grant def. Martin Day via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:38
